Nvidia GeForce RTX 30-series graphics cards were released back in September of 2020. Unfortunately, they were difficult to obtain at market prices (or to find at all) due to the constant shortage of semiconductors. The speculators and bitcoin miners who keep the GPUs make matters worse.
However, the proverbial tide has changed in recent months. Not only have RTX 30-series cards become readily available, but they also sell for close to the original MSRP. GPUs like the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Ti have recently seen a $1000 price drop. The RTX 3080 saw a similar price drop, as did the RTX 3080 Ti. For this reason, you can say that now is the best time to buy an RTX 30-series card.
or is he? The first Nvidia GeForce RTX 40-series GPU is expected to arrive in late 2022. The upcoming graphics card line codenamed “Lovelace” is rumored to be much more powerful than the current Ampere line. If the leaked specs are correct, the cards could offer a 150% performance increase over the RTX 30 series. Even if the rumors are stopped, the Lovelace GPUs will undoubtedly be very powerful.
With an RTX 40-series GPU on the horizon, should you bother getting an Ampere graphics card that is now two years old? Let’s go over the pros and cons of buying the RTX 30 series now.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 30 Series: Why You Should Buy Now
Easy to find RTX 30 . series
If you check out our Nvidia RTX 3080 restock page, you’ll see a wide range of Ampere cards available from a range of different vendors. Until recently, following a link to a specific card could have landed on a page for a completely sold out product. This is the exception now that Nvidia GPUs are more readily available.
Instead of constantly searching for restocks, you can simply visit the seller’s website and purchase an Ampere card. It’s odd to celebrate a common act like buying an item, but if you wait years for an RTX 30-series card, you’ll understand more than that. Being able to buy a card without the hassle is a huge deal for PC game lovers nowadays.
Nvidia RTX 30-series GPUs are now cheaper
Ampere GPUs have been overpriced for most of the line’s existence. But now that stock is more available, we’re seeing Nvidia RTX 30-series GPUs sell for MSRP. In some cases, graphics cards are sold below their regular prices. At the time of writing this report, Newegg MSI Ventus GeForce RTX 3080 Sells for $780 (Opens in a new tab)which is about $20 less than the MSRP.
However, the seller offers a $30 discount card, which you can use to purchase the graphics card for $750. Amazon is offering the MSI Gaming GeForce RTX 3080 for $929 (Opens in a new tab), which is lower than its original $1,099 MSPR price. If you want a GPU with more kick, You can get the RTX 3080 Ti for $979 at Amazon (Opens in a new tab).
That’s less than a regular $1,199 and even two hundred dollars less than I paid for the same card in my pre-built gaming machine – which I bought primarily to secure my coveted GPU.
According to recent rumors, Nvidia will release only one Lovelace card in 2022 – the RTX 4090. We don’t know how much the GPU will cost, but we see how the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 was the most expensive Ampere card before the RTX 3090 Ti If it was dropped, it’s reasonable to assume that the RTX card 4090 will be the most expensive Lovelace card for quite some time. Here’s another reason to get the RTX 30 series now.
The RTX 30 series is more than enough for modern gaming
The global pandemic has had a massive impact on the video game industry, most notably in the form of countless delays in games. Although this has frustrated many players, there is an upside to this imperfect situation.
With the gaming industry effectively in decline for at least two years, Ampere GPUs will be viable for much longer. Even with RTX 40-series cards on the market, developers will continue to make PC games optimized for the current Nvidia GPU line. Granted, developers don’t usually give up on previous-generation GPUs as instant new ones arrive, but given how much more the Ampere line is now available, it’s easy to see that it’s an actual Nvidia card for some time — at least until the 8K gaming gains in traction. big.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 30 Series: Why You Should Skip
If you must have the latest and greatest GPU available, you’ll want to wait for the RTX-40 series to come out. This is especially true if even half of the rumors about her supposed power are accurate.
Although not officially confirmed, the next generation GeForce cards use a 5nm process produced by TSMC (advanced in Samsung’s 8nm chips used in the current generation of Ampere generation cards).
according to what Wccftech (Opens in a new tab) Called “trusted leakers,” the new hardware will probably pack a punch. There is talk that the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 main card will come with 18,432 CUDA cores with a clock speed of up to 2.5GHz and 92 teraflops of computing performance. For comparison, the current upper end NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 The card packs 10752 CUDA cores, a clock speed of 1.6GHz, and about 37 teraflops of computing power.
If – and the “if” is significant – the leaked specs are correct, then it looks like we’ll see a performance increase of about 150%, as mentioned above. This sounds like a lot but it relates to what has been seen between the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti and the RTX 3090. Of course, real-world game performance is a different beast, and we have to see how that boost of performance affects the actual gameplay.
Previous rumors suggested that RTX 40 series cards could draw up to 1,200 watts of power. Latest rumor from Grimon 55 (Opens in a new tab) It is suggested that some cards may draw between 450 watts to 850 watts. leaky Kopite7Kimi (Opens in a new tab) confirms these numbers.
Although there will be a few upcoming games that will push Lovelace cards to the limit, you will enjoy better overall performance in the current games. And even if you spend a lot of money on a potentially expensive RTX 40-series GPU now, it will probably last you for at least half a decade.
If you’re willing to wait a little longer, the Lovelace Card seems like a worthwhile investment – provided you find one when the line finally launches.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 30 Series: Should You Buy Now?
The thought of whether to buy an Nvidia RTX 30-series card, stick with it, or wait for the inevitable RTX 40 line ultimately comes down to your specific wants and needs.
The current generation of Nvidia GPUs will still be viable for the next few years, and will likely see even more discounted prices. Graphics cards will also be more than enough for future game releases. But for those who want to protect their platforms in the future or simply have FOMO, it may be worth waiting for the more powerful RTX 40 series.
